Permutation lock



u 16, 1938. H. E. S'OREF ET AL 1 09 PERMUTATION LOCK Filed March 18, 1958 FIG.5

WITNESSES 1.5

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AT ORNEY Patented Aug. 16, 1938 PERMUTATION LOCK Harry E. Soref and James Keith Marshall, Milwaukee, Wis., assignors to Master Lock Company, Milwaukee, Wis., a corporation of Wisconsin Application March 18, 1938, Serial No. 196,660

16 Claims.

The invention relates to locks and more particularly to permutation locks such as padlocks.

It is an object of the invention to provide a permutation lock having improved but simplified locking mechanism for automatically looking a lockable member thereof when the latter is placed in position to-be locked.

Another object of the invention is to provide a permutation lock having simple but eifective means for automatically upsetting or disarranging the tumbler permutation upon the movement of the lockable member.

A further object is to provide a permutation lock which is of such construction as to prevent unauthorized persons from ascertaining the permutation by the sense of touch or sound.

A still further object is to provide a permutation lock which is reliable in operation, which requires but relatively few parts, and which can be economically manufactured.

The invention further consists in the several features hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawing, illustrating an embodiment of the invention,

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a permutation padlock constructed in accordance with the invention;

Fig. 2 is a rear elevation of the padlock, parts being removed and broken away and parts being shown in section, the padlock being in locked condition;

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional elevation taken generally along the line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a rear elevation similar to Fig. 2 but showing the padlock shackle withdrawn to its open position;

Fig. 5 is a rear elevation of the padlock, parts of the rear walls of the padlock case being broken away and parts being shown in section;

Fig. 6 is a detail sectional view taken generally along the line 6-6 of Fig. 2;

Fig. '7 is another detail sectional view taken generally along the line 'l-'! of Fig. 2;

Fig. 8 is a side elevation of a locking lever;

Fig. 9 is a perspective view of a control tumbler, and

Fig. 10 is a detail View of one of the other tumblers.

In the drawing, l5 designates a lock case of any suitable shape, and in the present instance of cylindrical form and comprising a front plate l6 and an embossed rear plate H, the former plate being integral with the cylindrical portion of the case. The case has an enclosing cup-shaped shell 55 I8, preferably a sheet metal stamping, which fits closely on the case and has a front cover plate engaging the front bossed rear cover plate It of the case. An emplate 20' marginally bears on the rear plate I1, and both of these plates are secured in place by a flange 2| formed by ning over the rear edge of the shell l8.

spin- Pref erably, the front and rear plates l6 and Il are further secured in place by a 23, which also secures the fr of the shell to the front plate riveted pin or post out cover plate l9 l6 of the case. A

pin or post 22 is riveted to the rear plate H and has a reduced front end supported in an opening 22', Fig. 3, formed in the front plate IS.

A guide member 25, preferably in the form of a sheet metal stamping, is rigidly secured within the case, and comprises a fiat portion 26 which rests on the inner face of the front plate l6 and is secured thereto by the riveted pin 23. Struck up from an end of the flat member 25 is a flange 21 the front and rear plates vided with opposite lugs 28,

portion 26 of the which extends between 16 and I1 and is proone being shown,

which fit in anchor slots 29 formed in these plates.

A round shackle-guiding opening 30 is formed in the flange 21. A U-shaped shackle 3| has its legs slidably passing through the case and shell. The

openings 32 formed in longer leg of the shackle also slidably and rotatably passes through the opening 30 in the guide member 25, and the shorter leg has a beveled end 33 and a locking notch 34 near this end. When the shackle is withdrawn to its outermost position,

l8, as seen in Fig. 4, and the leg clears the shell the shorter shackle is then capable of being swung about its longer leg. An annular groove 38 is formed about the end portion of the longer shackle leg and slidably receives therein plate 39 which is confined on the slidable engagement plate with a forked guide and stop the shackle leg by of a straight edge of the the flat inner surface of the case plate 11, this engagement also guiding the shackle leg and preventing rotation of the forked plate with respect to the case. able with the flange to limit the outward movement seen in Fig. 4.

The forked plate is engage- 21 of the guide member 25 of the shackle, as

a locking member,

is pivotally mounted on the pin 22 and is urged rearwardly against the front face of the rear plate l1 pin, the ripheral which is preferably ries thereon three forwardly like arms 44, 45, and 46 th by a coiled spring 42 surrounding the front end of the spring flange 43 on the pin.

a sheet metal stamping, carengaging a pe- The lever 4|,

projecting tonguee arms and 46 being arranged at opposite sides of the lever axis and the arm 45 being spaced below the arm 44. The downwardly projecting portion of the lever provides a fourth arm plane perpendicular to the lever axis. The beveled lower edge of the arm 44 is engageable in the shackle notch 34, and the arm 45 is engageable with the lower end 33 of the notched shackle leg. The arm 46 has a slight projection M at the front end of its lower edge, and cooperates with tumbler means hereinafter described.

A stud 48 is rigidly secured, as by riveting, to an embossed portion of the rear case plate I! and projects forwardly through apertured portions of the front plate l6 and front cover plate I9. The tapered front end of the stud 48 loosely fits in a bore 49 formed in an operating knob 58 which is rotatably mounted in the front plate l6. A dished dial plate 5| is carried on the knob against relative rotation, the knob having at its inner end a cross slot 53 forming a keyway. The rim of the dial is surrounded by an annular bead 54, Figs. 1 and 3, which is embossed on the front cover plate |9 of the padlock shell. The dial plate bears the usual indicia and conceals the front ends of the pins 22 and 23. An index notch 54 is formed in the bead 54 to cooperate with the dial indicia.

A driving tumbler or disk 55 is concentric and rigid with the knob 58, as by riveting it on the slotted end of the knob, and carries the usual transfer lug 56. One or more additional tumblers or disks 5'! and 58 are rotatable on the stud 48 and carry transfer lugs 60. The tumblers are sepa rated by washers 6| which have key projections entering a keyway 62 on the stud 48 and are placed under frictionby a compressedfcoil spring 63 surrounding the rear portion of the stud 48. As seen in Fig. 3, the keyway 62 stops short of the front end of the stud so as to retain the tumblers 51 and 58 and other parts on the stud prior to the attachment to the case of the stud-carrying rear plate IT.

The tumblers 55, 51, and 58 have peripheral slots or notches 64 formed therein to admit the tongue-like arm 46 of the locking lever 4| when these slots are properly positioned and registered, as hereinafter described, thus permitting the looking lever to be swung, as seen in Fig. 4, for allowing the release or outward movement of the shackle 3|.

Means are provided for automaticallyplacing the padlock in looking condition upon the movement of the shackle, and includes a shiftable control member 65 which is preferably pivotally mounted and is here shown to be pivotally carried on the stud 48 between the tumbler'58 and the coiled spring 63. The control member is angularly shiftable by the tumbler 58 and has a releasable driving connection therewith, which is preferably of the slipping or friction type. The control member is here shown in the form of. a flat disk-like tumbler held in frictional engagement with the adjacent flat face of the tumbler 58 by the coiled spring 63, the control member having an opening 66, Fig. 9, to receive the stud. The

angular movement of the control member is limited, as by providing a laterally'projecting lug 67 thereon to engage the lower portion of'the locking lever 4| at opposite ends of the angular travel of the control member. At a point approximately diametrically opposite the lug 61, the control member has a peripheral notch 68 to receive the arm 46 of the locking lever. The edge of the notch 68 which is engageable by the lower andouter edge of the lever arm 46 is curved to present which is arranged in a.

a cam surface 69 so that the control member will be angularly displaced when the lever arm enters the notch, to thereby. place the control member lug 6'! in the path of the downwardly projecting portion of the locking lever, as hereinafter more fully described.

The locking lever 4| is swung on the pin 22 by the shackle during the withdrawal and reentry of the'shackle with respect to the lock case, and is frictionally retained in adjusted position by the coiled spring 42. In addition, however, means are provided for holding the spring-pressed locking lever in two definite alternative positions and for producing a snap action on the locking lever. For this purpose the locking lever has a pair of angularly spaced, radially extending grooves 18 and 1| of V-shaped cross-section adapted to selectively receive a correspondingly shaped projection 1'2 embossed on the rear case plate When the padlock is to be opened, the permutation knob 58 is turned alternately in opposite directions to successive predetermined positions, thus rotating the tumblers to bring the peripheral notches thereof into registered relation for admitting the arm 46 of the locking lever. The tumbler58 is adjusted first and is turned in a counter-clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 2, causing the control tumbler 65 to turn in the same direction by reason of its frictional driving engagement with the tumbler 58, the control tumbler being stopped by the engagement of its projection.

61 with the downwardly projecting portion of the locking lever 4|. The notch 68 of the control tumbler then has its cam edge 69 in position to be' The shackle is then engaged by the lever arm 46. displaced outwardly with respect to the lock case, the notched shorter leg of the shackle lifting the lever arm 44 and turning the lever counter-clockwise (as viewed in Fig. 2) to the position seen in Fig. 4 in which the lockinglever arm 46 enters the tumbler notches. During this movement the locking lever arm 46 slidably engages the cam edge 69 of the lever arm 46 and angularly displaces the control tumbler 65 counter-clockwise (as viewed in Fig. 4) tobring the lug 61 into the path of the locking lever, so that when the lever is subsequently swung in the opposite direction it will move the lug. In pulling the shackle outwardly, the locking lever 4| is displaced axially a short distance against the action of the coiled spring 42 by reason of the cam action between the case projection 72 and the lever notch 19, and as the lever approaches its outermost position the projection 12 enters the lever notch "H with a snap action. This insures retention of the lever in its unlocking position and prevents angular displacement of any of the tumblers so as to maintain the adjusted permutation, thereby avoiding the necessity for working the permutation to permit reentry of the shackle. In its outermost position, the shorter leg of the shackle clears the lock case, and shackle is free to turn about its longer leg.

When the padlock is to be locked, the shorter leg of the shackle is reentered into the lock case, the beveled end 33 of the shackle leg engaging the arm 45 of the locking lever and depressing this arm to turn the lever to locking position as seen in Fig. 2. pressed lever moves axially by reason of the cam engagement between the cam projection 12 and the lever notch 1|, the cam projection finally entering the lever notch 10 with a snap action, bringing the lever arm 44 into the shackle notch 34 and bringing the lever arm 46 out of the tumbler notches.

the

During this movement, the spring-' As the lever approaches its'7 locking position the lower portion thereof engages the control tumbler lug 61, causing the control tumbler to turn clockwise (as viewed in Fig. 2) and bringing the tumbler notch 68 out of register with the lever arm 46 so as to lock the padlock. The snap action of the locking lever impels the control tumbler through a considerable angle, the. lug 61 finally being spaced some distance from the lever. The control tumbler in its angular displacement out of locking position may carry with it the contiguous tumbler 58, by reason of the frictional driving engagement between these tumblers. Because of inertia effects, however, the tumbler 58 may not move through as large an angle as the control tumbler, or may not move at all, depending upon the degree of frictional engagement between these tumblers. In any case, the padlock will be efiectively locked, and it will be necessary to work the permutation before the lock can be reopened. The inward movement of the shackle is limited in any suitable manner, as by the engagement of the end of the longer shackle leg, or forked stop plate, with the curved inner wall of the lock case.

The projection 4! at the front end of the lower edge of the locking lever arm 46 is engageable with the periphery of the tumbler 55 secured to the adjusting knob 50, and spaces the lower edge of this arm from the remaining tumblers, as seen in Fig. 6, except when the notch of the tumbler 55 is in register with the arm. This serves to prevent unauthorized persons from ascertaining the permutation by the sense of feel or sound, as by the operation of turning the knob While the shackle is held under tension.

The construction of the padlock is such as to require relatively few parts and to simplify assembly. The rear plate I! carries the stud on which the spring-pressed tumblers 51, 58', and 65 and spacing washers 6| are mounted, and also carries the pin 22 on which the spring-pressed locking lever is mounted, thus forming an easily handled sub-assembly. The multiple-armed locking lever can be inexpensively formed of sheet metal, and performs a plurality of functions. The springpressed detent means for the locking lever not only retains the locking lever in its unlocking position, but also provides a snap action to improve the locking function.

' What we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a permutation lock, the combination of a lockable member, a movable locking member for said lockable member, a rotatably adjustable tumbler for blocking the unlocking movement of said locking member and movable out of blocking position, a shiftable member for obstructing the unlocking movement of said locking member, said shiftable member having a driving connection with said tumbler and movable thereby out of obstructing position, means for limiting the movement of said shiftable member, and means controlled by the locking movement of said lockable member for returning said shiftable member to its obstructing position.

2. In a permutation lock, the combination of a lockable member, a movable locking member for said lockable member, a rotatably adjustable tumbler for blocking the unlocking movement of said locking member and movable out of blocking position, a shiftable member having a driving connection with said tumbler and movable by said tumbler, means for limiting the movement of said shiftable member, and means controlled by the locking movement of said lockable member for displacing s'aid shiftable member and thereby moving said tumbler to blocking position.

3. In a'permutation lock, the combination of a movable shackle, a pivoted locking member for said shackle, and a rotatable control tumbler movableto release said locking member out of locking position, said locking member having rigidly connected portions two of which are engageable with said tumbler and two others of which are engageable with said shackle, one'of said tumbler-engaging portions'releasably holding said locking member in locking position, the other tumbler-engaging portion moving said tumbler out of unlocking position upon the locking movement of said looking member, one of said shackle-engaging portions holding said shackle in looking position, and the other shackle-engaging portion being displaceable by said shackle on its locking movement to return said locking member to locking position.

'4. In a permutation lock, the combination of locking means including a pivoted locking member, a rotatable tumbler for blocking the unlocking movement of said locking member, and resilient means for snapping said locking member to locking position, said locking member having an impelling connection with said tumbler, and said resilient means acting through said connection to snap said tumbler out of unlocking position upon the locking movement of said locking member.

5. In a permutation lock, the combination of locking means including a movable locking memher, a rotatably adjustable tumbler for blocking the unlocking movement of said locking member and movable out of blocking position, a shiftable member having a driving connection with said tumbler and movable by said tumbler, said locking member when moved to locking position having an impelling connection with said shiftable member for moving said shiftable member to thereby return said tumbler to blocking position, and said locking member when moved to unlocking position having an impelling connec tion with said shiftable member to move said shiftable member in the opposite directionior thereby rendering effective the other impelling connection. 7 v

6. In a permutation look, the combination of locking means including a pivoted locking member, and a pivoted control 'member angularly shiftable to release said locking member out of locking position, said locking member having impelling connections with said control member, one of said impelling connections angularly shifting. said control member in one direction upon the unlocking movement of said locking member to render eiTective the second connection, and said second connection angularly displacing said shifted control member in the other direction out of unlocking position upon the locking movement of said locking member.

7. In a permutation lock, the combination of locking means including a pivoted locking member, and a shiftable member movable to release said locking member out of locking position, said locking member having rigidly connected portions engageable with said shiftable member, one portion for releasably holding said locking member in locking position and the other portion for moving said shiftable member out of unlocking position upon the locking movement of said looking member.

8. In a permutation lock, the combination of locking means including a pivoted locking member, a rotatable. tumbler movable to release said locking member out of locking position, and resilient means urging said locking member in an axial direction for retaining said locking member in unlocking position.

9. In a permutation lock, the combination of a lock case, a lockable member movable with respect to said lock case, a pivoted locking member in said case adapted to engage said lockable member, a rotatable tumbler movable to release said locking member out of locking position, said case and locking member having cam surfaces, and spring means urging said locking member in an axial direction for releasably holding said cam surfaces in engagement to retain said locking member in unlocking position.

10. In a permutation lock, the combination of locking means including a pivoted locking member, a shiftable member movable to release said locking member out of locking position, said locking member on its locking movement having an impelling connection with said shiftable member to move said shiftable member out of unlocking position, and resilient means for urging said locking member toward its locking position.

11. In a permutation lock, the combination of locking means including a pivoted locking member, and a shiftable member movable to release said locking member out of locking position, said shiftable member having a cam surface engageable by a portion of said locking member on the unlocking movement of said locking member'to move said shiftable member, and said shiftable member having a part positioned by said lastnamed movement thereof into the path of another portion of said locking member, said lastnamed portion of the locking member moving said shiftable member out of unlocking position upon the locking movement of the locking member.

12. In a permutation lock, the combination of locking means including a movable locking member, a shiftable member for blocking the unlocking movement of said locking member and movable out of blocking position, and means for moving said shiftable member in one direction by the unlocking movement of said locking member and for moving said shiftable member in the opposite direction and into blocking position by the locking movement of said locking member.

13. In a permutation lock, the combination of a plurality of coaxial rotatable tumbler disks having peripheral notches and transfer projections, one of said disks being a driving disk, an adjusting member having a driving connection with said driving disk, and locking means including a movable locking member having a portion blocked by said disks and adapted to enter said notches when the latter are registered with said portion to permit unlocking movement of said member, said portion having a projection engageable with the driving disk to space said portion from the notched peripheries of the other tumbler disks.

14. In a permutation lock, the combination of a plurality of coaxial rotatable tumbler disks having peripheral notches and transfer projections, one of said disks being a driving disk, an adjusting member having a driving connection with said driving disk, and locking means including' a movable locking member having a portion blocked by said disks and adapted to enter said notches when the latter are registered with said portion to permit unlocking movement of said member, said driving disk spacing said portion from the notched peripheries of the other tumbler disks.

15. In a permutation lock, the combination of a shackle, a pivoted locking member for locking said shackle, a rotatably adjustable tumbler for blocking the unlocking movement of said locking member andmovable out of blocking position, a control tumbler having a slipping frictional driving connection with said first-named tumbler and movable thereby out of blocking position, said control tumbler having a peripheral recess to receive a portion of said locking member and having a projection engageable with another portion of said locking member to stop said control tumbler in unblocking position, said recess having a cam surface engageable by the first-named portion of said locking member on the unlocking movement of said member to move said projection into the path of said second-named portion of said member, and said projection being impelled by said locking member on its locking movement to return said control tumbler to blocking position.

16. In a permutation lock, the combination of locking means including a movable locking member, a rotatably adjustable tumbler for blocking the unlocking movement of said locking member and movable out of blocking position, a shiftable member having a frictional driving connection with said tumbler and movable by said tumbler, said locking member when moved to locking position having an impelling connection with said shiftable member for moving said shiftable member to thereby return said tumbler to blocking position, and said locking member when moved to unlocking position having an impelling connection with said shiftable member to move said shiftable member beyond the tumbler-controlled range of movement of said shiftable member to thereby render efiective the other impelling connection.

HARRY E. SOREF.

JAMES KEITH MARSHALL. 

